We examined the frequency of Parkinson disease with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) and its subtypes and the accuracy of 3 cognitive scales for detecting PD-MCI using the new criteria for PD-MCI proposed by the Movement Disorders Society. Nondemented patients with Parkinson’s disease completed a clinical visit with the 3 screening tests followed 1 to 3 weeks later by neuropsychological testing. Of 139 patients, 46 met Level 2 Task Force criteria for PD-MCI when impaired performance was based on comparisons with normative scores. Forty-two patients (93%) had multi-domain MCI. At the lowest cutoff levels that provided at least 80% sensitivity, specificity was 44% for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and 33% for the Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson’s Disease-Cognition. The Mini-Mental State Examination could not achieve 80% sensitivity at any cutoff score. At the highest cutoff levels that provided specificity of at least 80%, sensitivities were low (≤44%) for all tests. When decline from estimated premorbid levels was considered evidence of cognitive impairment, 110 of 139 patients were classified with PD-MCI, and 103 (94%) had multi-domain MCI. We observed dramatic differences in the proportion of patients who had PD-MCI using the new Level 2 criteria, depending on whether or not decline from premorbid level of intellectual function was considered. Recommendations for methods of operationalizing decline from premorbid levels constitute an unmet need. Among the 3 screening tests examined, none of the instruments provided good combined sensitivity and specificity for PD-MCI. Other tests recommended by the Task Force Level 1 criteria may represent better choices, and these should be the subject of future research.

Executive function is important for stepping performance, particularly under more complex environmental conditions.

Results support the clinical validity of this brief computerized screening battery when used in established dementias, but not to differentiate between various dementias, and suggest that the select CogState battery's effectiveness in identifying MCI from controls was not as strong as identifying specific dementias.

This study examined the relationship between age and inhibitory functioning within a sample of older adults ranging in age from 60 to 85 years old. On the basis of earlier research, and confirmed by factor analysis, measures typically referred to as frontal lobe tasks were used as measures of inhibitory functioning. Findings demonstrated that inhibitory processes continued to decline with advancing age within the older sample. In addition, the role of inhibition in age-related performance deficits on a verbal list learning measure and an attention measure was examined. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that inhibition accounted for a significant proportion of the age-related variance on the two cognitive measures, whereas measures of reading speed accounted for a smaller proportion of the variance. In addition, when inhibition was first covaried out, reading speed no longer accounted for a significant proportion of the age-related variance. It is argued that inhibition is an important contributor to age-related performance decrements in cognition.AN increasingly central notion in attention theory is that inhibitory processes act in concert with excitatory processes to control the contents of working memory. Inhibitory processes help prevent irrelevant stimuli from interfering with the efficient processing of target information in a number of ways (e.g., Hasher & Zacks, 1988;Tipper, 1985;Tipper, Weaver, & Houghton, 1994). Specifically, inhibition can prevent the allocation of attention to irrelevant or distracting information in the internal or external environment, thereby allowing for a focus on the relevant task or goal. Further, as task demands change, inhibition serves to suppress activation of stimuli that were previously important but now are no longer the target of processing (Hasher & Zacks, 1988;. Finally, more recently it has been proposed that inhibition serves to restrain prepo-tent responses from occurring immediately, allowing for an initial evaluation as to their appropriateness (Hasher, Zacks, & May, 1999). When inhibitory processes are not operating efficiently, irrelevant or distracting information can invade working memory, possibly resulting in lowered performance due to interference effects and response competition. These interfering effects can occur at both the encoding and retrieval stages.It has recently been postulated that deficits in inhibitory functioning may account for agerelated performance decrements exhibited in a variety of cognitive tasks (Hasher & Zacks, 1988; Hasher et al., 1999;. This view maintains that inhibitory mechanisms become inefficient with age, causing a disruption to working memory. Working memory has been theorized to be important for successful performance in many cognitive domains, including memory, language comprehension and speech production, and planning and problem solving, among others (Baddeley & Hitch, 1994). Given the importance of Address correspondence to Carol Persad, Neuropsychology Division, University of Michigan, C480 Med Inn, 1500...

Results suggest that verbal fluency mechanisms are vulnerable during the menopausal transition. Targeted intervention may preserve function of this critical cognitive domain.